Decision Weeks Away on Police Officer's Suspension

A decision on whether or not the suspension of a Dothan police officer was justified is more than a month away.

In Judge Butch Binford’s courtroom today, Corporal Raemonica Carney went up against the City of Dothan. In May, Carney was suspended for 10 days and put on desk duty after the personnel board found controversial Facebook posts made by Carney violated the Police Department’s social media policy.

The posts made by Carney were about former Los Angeles Police Officer Christopher Dorner who went on a killing spree in February before killing himself.

Carney’s attorney, Sonya Edwards, stated that the suspension was a violation of Carney’s first amendment rights, while the city’s attorney Kevan Kelly argued that substantial evidence was presented at the personnel board making the suspension fair.

Judge Binford did not rule today, he gave the city 21 days to submit a case brief. Then Carney’s attorney will have 14 days to respond. Once the response is in, Judge Binford will decide if the personnel board was equipped to make the ruling or if the case should go before an appeals court.

Online Public Information File

Viewers with disabilities can get assistance accessing this station's FCC Public Inspection File by contacting the station with the information listed below. Questions or concerns relating to the accessibility of the FCC's online public file system should be directed to the FCC at 888-225-5322, 888-835-5322 (TTY), or fccinfo@fcc.gov.